1914 goodbye to all that - Lavinia Greenlaw

In this collection of
essays, ten leading writers from different countries consider the
conflicts that have informed their own
literary lives. 1914-Goodbye to All That borrows its title from Robert
Graves's "bitter leave-taking of England" in which he writes not
only of the First World War but the questions it raised: how to live, how to
live with each other, and how to write.
Interpreting this title as broadly and
ambiguously as Graves intended, these essays mark the War's centenary by
reinvigorating these questions. The
book includes Elif Shafak on an inheritance of silence in Turkey, Ali Smith
on lost voices in Scotland, Xiaolu Guo on the 100,000 Chinese sent to the
Front, Daniel Kehlmann on hypnotism in Berlin, Colm Toibin on Lady Gregory
losing her son fighting for Britain as she fought for an independent Ireland,
Kamila Shamsie on reimagining Karachi, Erwin Mortier on occupied Belgium's
legacy of shame, NoViolet Bulawayo on Zimbabwe and clarity, Ales Steger on
resisting history in Slovenia, and Jeanette Winterson on what art is for.
Contributors include:
Ali Smith - Scotland
Ales Steger - Slovenia
Jeanette Winterson - England
Elif Shafak - Turkey
NoViolet Bulawayo - Zimbabwe
Colm Tobn - Ireland
Xiaolu Guo - China
Erwin Mortier - Belgium
Kamila Shamsie - Pakistan
Daniel Kehlmann - Germany